What is your write-off budget for faulty items? (USD)

everydaysurvivalgear · 2017-05-19T04:13:44.000Z

You can see the archived poll results on the Wayback Machine:

https://web.archive.org/web/20221220093741/https://budgetlightforum.com/t/-/72775

everydaysurvivalgear · 2017-05-19T05:08:14.000Z

Hey lads i have always wanted to ask this question seeing as we are all different and have different opinions on what is right and wrong. If i was to buy here (Australia) i except warranty to be issues to be handled easily. Which is never the case.

Basically how much money are you willing to lose over a faulty product you bought from China before chasing the company up?

How long do you except to be able to return/get a new product for your broken item?

Lets say a $10 light would you chase the company up after 3 months of use?

Realistically we have no rights when we buy from overseas companies. Our governments can not enforce laws to overseas based companies even if they ship to us. Some companies do offer global warranties but you are really by your self trying to claim that warranty. You have no government agencies to help enforce that warranty. No question we really have no warranty when we buy from overseas its up to the say company to offer a warranty if they want.

Should we as consumers be doing more or less to change the face of online retail?

Lightbringer · 2017-05-19T05:04:15.000Z

If I know I’m buying junk just because it’s cheap (bad idea, because it reinforces that incentive for companies to sell even more junk), I’d expect it to break, and rip it apart for parts like a dead Borg. Or if there’s fraud involved (“high quality like XYZ!”), I might chase after them just for spite.

A legit dud, sorry, but whatever warranty the seller makes it out to be, I expect them to make good, or expect a public shaming.

MILSPEC · 2017-05-19T15:25:54.000Z

so far I haven’t had really bad experiences, only a few counterfeit products (which still worked somehow).
A consumer can read up on boards like BLF and learn which manufacturer to trust (i.e. Convoy, Thorfire,…) and where to buy.

Ozythemandias · 2017-05-19T15:47:36.000Z

It depends. If it was bought through paypal, $1 is unacceptable and I’ll chase it because opening a paypal claim is minimal investment.

If its not paypal and a hassle then something like 20-30 would probably be enough to prompt me to pull out the medium sized guns and whine about it on message boards. $100+ and I’ll go all out :smiling_imp:

I dont think I’ve ever gone “all out” for any product, closest I came to was for a jeweler that damaged my wedding band during resizing and denied all responsibility. Most of my issues are small dollars and paypal, usually non-deliveries, eg. current issue with a non-responsive blf member. I was stupid and nice and paid via F&F but its not a lot of money so I’ll just complain about it here

everydaysurvivalgear · 2017-05-19T17:36:08.000Z

None delivery i would hit them up every single time! That is a whole other issue.

HKJ · 2017-05-19T18:35:03.000Z

It is a difficult question to answer for me. I often buy something I expect to be bad and even if I do not expect it to be bad and it break down I will seldom do much about it. I do not want to waste a lot of time on faulty product.
With that said I do sometimes complain about faulty product on ebay, last time was a faulty serial adapter (Used the fake chip that the new drivers rejects). I must admit I was a bit surprised about the service I got. My main problem is returning items, because the Danish postal service is rather expensive, but the seller had to pay for returning the faulty adapters. In the end I got both the price, shipping and custom returned and I did not have to return the item (If I get around to do some soldering it might be usable).

ARsee · 2017-05-19T19:59:00.000Z

I've have an issue with an EagTac bought through illum.com.

iLum did not want to address the problem to resolve, and sent me direct to EagTac.

EagTac has yet to resolve.

There will be no more purchase by me of your products.

patmurris · 2017-05-19T23:07:52.000Z

When buying from chinese vendors i usually don’t place orders over $50 and in the worst case scenario i wont go mad if it gets lost. I’ll spend a bit of time trying to get it right but wont lose sleep on it. Across dozens of orders during the past four years i had very few issues and most if not all were settled.

Ronin42 · 2017-06-09T00:24:50.000Z

If a supplier is going to “how much can we screw you for” I think we should insit that the answer is a resounding 0$

anything else and we deserve what we get.

Ronin42 · 2017-06-09T00:24:51.000Z

If a supplier is going to “how much can we screw you for” I think we should insit that the answer is a resounding 0$

anything else and we deserve what we get.

Lightbringer · 2017-06-09T00:47:27.000Z

Ronin42:

If a supplier is going to “how much can we screw you for” I think we should insit that the answer is a resounding 0$

anything else and we deserve what we get.

“Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have the exact measure of the injustice and wrong which will be imposed on them.”
— Frederick Douglass

Phlogiston · 2017-06-17T07:59:49.000Z

I always buy using EBay, AliExpress or Paypal. That way I can chase up any problems, whether unsatisfactory items or outright failure to deliver. I have a zero tolerance approach to being blatantly cheated. Paypal basically equals a six month warranty, whether the item came from abroad or not.

That said, if I buy something knowing it’s going to be junk and planning to dismantle it for parts or something, I don’t chase the seller up on the basis that it’s junk. The classic BLF example: a light you buy knowing it’ll have a Latticebright LED in it because you want the body for a host.

I also don’t bother chasing up cases where I get 9 parts instead of the quoted 10 in a pack, as long as the missing part’s only worth a few pence. The flip side is that I quietly keep the extra part when I get 11. What goes around comes around in that case.

everydaysurvivalgear · 2017-06-17T09:37:17.000Z

Lol I was just chasing up a cheap tap&die set it only has a few main sizes so it was like 8usd. The seller said they sent it but I doubt it. If it breaks I expect it lol it was cheap. It’s like cheap drill bits.

pinkpanda3310 · 2017-06-17T10:03:04.000Z

I keep misreading and misunderstanding the thread title. ‘A right of….’ or ‘a write off.’ Sorry for being the grammar police, I normally don’t care.

everydaysurvivalgear · 2017-06-17T10:18:46.000Z

write-off would be the correct way i guess.

like this.

British
a vehicle or other object that is too badly damaged to be repaired.
“the passengers were unharmed, but my car was a total write-off”

a worthless or ineffectual person or thing.
“the magazine was a write-off, its credibility rating below zero”

Finance
a cancellation from an account of a bad debt or worthless asset.
“their profits are weakening thanks to loan write-offs”

Lj11 · 2017-06-17T11:05:31.000Z

I always go by the saying; “you get what you pay for” yet any product made to whatever budget should be fit for purpose and expected lifespan (a few months is not an acceptable lifespan).

I’d expect the vendor to replace the item and cost of postage.

Lj11 · 2017-06-17T11:54:16.000Z

I had a faulty torch from Fasttech not so long ago, I’d had it for just over a month and it went loopy on me, they did replace the torch and payed for postage too, which is pretty decent of them. I know with some vendors, it’s almost impossible just to communicate with them for after support let alone get a replacement or even rarer, to pay for postage too. Kudos to Fasttech.

I think the minimum warranty cover and period should be the same cover to all overseas customers as it is from the country you purchased it from at the very least.
If vendors realised that after support is just as important as the sale price, as it boosts confidence with the customers knowing their purchase is actually covered, then they would surely get more sales. Bad news travels fast, if you don’t look after your customers, people will get to know fast.

Henk4U2 · 2017-06-17T12:46:57.000Z

everydaysurvivalgear:

write-off would be the correct way i guess.

like this.

British
a vehicle or other object that is too badly damaged to be repaired.
“the passengers were unharmed, but my car was a total write-off”

In insurance terms a car is a write-off if the cost to repair it is higher than the current market value.
You receive the current market value (according to the insurance company) when you transfer the car (wreck) to them.
Keep the car because you think you can fix it yourself :person_facepalming: , and you get the current market value minus the scrap value.
After that you won’t get any money if the car is damaged again (because the current market value is now zero).
The rules are different for those who are lucky enough to wreck a Ferrari 250 GTO or a Bugatti Royale.
If you wreck one of those, it is cheaper to rebuild them with one-off hand-made parts than to cough up the insured value.
But we already know that this world is run by billionaires, for billionaires, and paid for by working stiffs.

On topic: in 5 years I got 3 refunds, 2 resends, and 1 order that landed in purgatory the moment I pushed the button.
All remaining issues were dealt with to my fullest satisfaction.
From an old procurement officer I learned that you ‘You catch more flies with honey than you do with vinegar’.
Combined with a touch of ‘You can checkout any time you like, but you can never leave!’ Until issues are solved.

So far, my only write-offs are caused by myself: breaking, dropping, frying, scratching, shorting and zapping things.